On 4th October the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER I) authorized the Lithuanian Presidency to start discussions with the European Parliament and the Commission with a view to reaching an agreement in first reading regarding the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2006/43/EC on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts and the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on specific requirements regarding statutory audit of public-interest entities. COREPER I confirmed the negotiating mandate for the position to be taken by the Presidency at the forthcoming informal trilogue scheduled to take later this month.
The purpose of the amendments to the Audit Directive and the proposed Regulation is to improve the audit quality and enhance the internal market for statutory audits, in particular, by strengthening requirements for independence of statutory auditors and audit firms of public-interest entities, thus contributing to re-establishment of market confidence.
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The proposals arose from the Commission Green Paper of October 2010, initiating a consultation on Audit Policy in the aftermath of financial crisis and in the general context of financial market reform. The proposals were presented November 2011. The JURI committee of the European Parliament voted in April 2013.
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